Scott Duffy says investor conversations stall because founders dump too much information at once. His fix: a drip system that starts with a five-line elevator pitch, then a paragraph, then a one-page overview, a deck, and finally single-page answers to whatever the investor actually asks. Keep it short and relevant.
So I know a lot of entrepreneurs ask me why their deal gets stuck. Why it seems like they've met an investor, the investors are interested in what they're doing, they send over a bunch of information and then the deal just doesn't go anywhere. And here's what I tell them. You know, back in the day, it used to be we were all taught to create these like 50 page business plans. And they were big and they were thick and they were rich and they told everybody everything that they would ever have to know about our business in the market. The problem is today the market moves so fast that by the time you get done with that 50 page business plan, the odds are the whole thing's passed you by. And so what I really advocate is what I call the drip system of moving a deal to a close. And basically what that means is giving people just enough information, information in bite sized chunks that they can grok every step of the way really fast and then get through it, make decision, get back to you and ask for more. So, so how do we do that? Number one, we start with the perfect elevator pitch. You got to start with the perfect elevator pitch. And basically what you're telling somebody is, number one, my name is, my title is, my company is, I'm Scott Duffy, I'm the founder and CEO of what now Academy. Number two, this is what we do. Number three, this is who we serve. Number four, this is how they benefit. And number five, here's an example and here's the key. Each one of those things has to only be one sentence, limit to one sentence. So again, here's who I am, here's what we do, here's the market we serve, here's how they benefit. Here's an example. Next, after the perfect elevator pitch, you want to have a one paragraph. Don't send them 50 pages in the email. When they say they're interested, send them one paragraph that describes what you do, that takes off your 30 seconds and expands it to more. Next you have a one to a two page executive overview as a follow up. Next you have a PowerPoint deck. You see, the idea is at each stage you want to give people just enough to be able to respond, look at it, respond, and then to move on and ask you questions. And finally, when somebody has a question about your deal, what's awesome about the drip system is this. What's awesome is what you're going to do is take the question that they asked and you're going to answer only that one question and you're going to get back to them with one page. That's it. One page. They have a question about marketing or your market. You, you get back to them with one page about your market, a question about your customer, one page about your customer. Here's the thing. Most entrepreneurs, either on a question, give them everything, which is too much, or they give them what they think is most important. So give your customer or your potential investor what they want, the way that they want it. Keep it short, quick, actionable, and if you do that, you'll be able to keep a deal moving today, which is ultimately what you want to do to a close.
Business & Burgers-Sequence Collection bracelet for National Entrepreneurship Week
